Spring wire snap fastener socket



Sept. 14, 1954 FENTON 2,688,784

SPRING WIRE SNAP FASTENER SOCKET Filed June 13, 1952 INVENTOR Paul E. Fenian ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2,688,784 I SPRING WIRE SNAP FASTENER SOCKET Application June 13, 1952, Serial No. 293,289

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to snap'fastener sockets and particularly to the type provided with a wire spring member for detachable engagement with a complemental stud member. This fastener is adapted to be attached to a garment by a prong ring attaching member such as disclosed in the Fenton Patent No. 2,106,723 and is made to withstand any laundering of a garment to which the fasteners may be attached.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide fasteners of this general type which combine the advantages of a light snap action in making use of a wire spring with which the stud member has snapping engagement, along with the attachment by the use of the prong ring. Such fasteners involve a spring retaining shell and a deflector or anvil member within the shell for deforming the prongs when the fastener is attached to its support. In this prong clinching operation, however, the deflector plate is likely to be jammed against the spring so as to interfere with its action and it is this problem which the present invention eifectively solves in an economical manner. The problem is solved by providing an imperforate disc-like deflector member and supporting it in the socket shell at its center or adjacent its peripheral edge or at both positions. In supporting the center of the deflector member the socket shell is formed with a central tubular projection having an open end and the deflector member is formed with a central domed portion that rests against the open end of the tubular projection. The peripheral edge of the deflector member is supported by projections struck out of the base of the socket member which are of suflicient height to prevent the deflector plate being jammed against the movable sections of the spring. The imperforate disc results in a better appearance on the exposed side of a garment, or the like, and of course is simple and cheap to make. This solid platelike deflector also has maximum strength to resist deformation by the prongs in the attaching operation.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in the detailed description thereof which follows or will be apparent from such description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the improved socket shown assembled to a garment support by an attaching prong ring.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the socket member, per se, taken along the line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the socket member with a section broken away.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view through the socket taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the wire spring, per se, as it appears removed from the socket.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 8 refers generally to a socket member that may be attached to one side of a garment support I I by means of a prong ring member I2.

More specifically the socket member 8 consists of a housing shell It having an annular base I3 with a central tubular projection Hi surrounding an opening I5 through which the head of a complemental stud member, not shown, may be inserted. The upper end of the tubular projection I4 is preferably left open as at It for reasons as will appear later. A circumferential wall I7 projects upwardly from the annular base I3 of the housing shell I 0 in the same direction as the central tubular projection Id. The central tubular projection I4 is provided with diametrically positioned slots or openings Ill that may be skived out of the tubular projection or otherwise provided therein.

A spring wire member I9 is positioned within the socket shell II]. As best shown in Fig. 4 the wire member I9 consists of a substantially semicircular portion 2a and a pair of S shaped sections ZI that terminate in a pair of opposed straight arms 22. The arms '22 are located within the slots or openings I8 of the central tubular projection I l and are adapted to have snap locking engagement with a stud member to which the socket member may be assembled.

The wire member I9, as shown in its initial state in Fig. 5, is formed so that the semicircular portion 20 is slightly greater than the inside dimension of the shell circumferential wall ll and thus disposing the opposed arms 22 in a converging position, but when the spring member I9 is assembled into the housing shell ID the semicircular portion 20 will be confined and compressed by the wall I! and the opposed arms 22 will be located in the slots I8 in parallel relationship to each other as shown in Fig. 4.

The prong ring member 12 that is employed to attach the socket to a support consists of an annular ring 23 having a plurality of pointed prongs 24 extending from the inner diameter of said ring and substantially at right angles to the plane of said ring. The prongs 24 are adapted to pierce through the garment support I i and to be clinched over within the socket member 8 for permanently anchoring the socket member to the support.

In order to deflect the pointed prongs 24 in the setting of the socket member 8 there is provided an imperforate anvil or deflector plate 25 located within the housing shell ID. The deflector plate 25 is formed with an inclined cam portion 26 that terminates in a flat annular rim 2'! positioned above the wire spring member IS. The central part of the deflector plate is formed with a domed section 28, the underside of which rests upon the outer edge l6 of the projection M in order to support the deflector plate 25 so that the annular rim will be normally positioned slightly spaced above the wire member I9. After the spring member [9 and deflector plate 25 are assembled into the socket member the upper portion of the wall H is formed inwardly to provide a closure flange 29 that will hold the deflector plate 25 in a more or less loose relationship within the housing shell [0, and also provide enough space between the flange 29 and the annular rim 2'! to provide a prong-receiving recess 30.

It is to be noted that the height of the tubular section l4 plus the domed section 28 of the deflector member 25 extends above the closure flange 29 on the end of the peripheral wall. This is for the purpose of allowing suflicient clearance room within the tubular projection M to receive the head of a stud member and also provide an adequate cam surface on the deflector member for deflecting the prongs of the fastener ring into clinching engagement with the socket.

In the assembly of the prong ring member I2 and the socket member 8 the pointed prongs 24 will be aligned with the cam portion 26 of the deflector plate 25 so that when the two parts are axially forced together the pointed prongs will be deflected outwardly by said cam portion and clinched within the prong receiving recess 30 in the manner as shown in Fig. 1.

In the assembly of the parts the pointed prongs 24 are likely to subject the deflector plate 25 to some amount of distortion, but this invention contemplates further supporting the deflector plate 25 so that the full force of deflecting the prongs 24 will not jam the annular rim 2! of the deflector plate 25 against arms 22 or other portions of the spring wire member l9 so as to interfere with the movement and efficiency of said spring member. To assure an adequate support for the deflector plate rim 21, I provide several projections or ribs 3| formed up from the base I3 of the housing shell In. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, four of these projections 3| are provided and so spaced as not to interfere with the action of the spring member 19. It will be understood that in forming the projections 3| their height should be a few thousandths greater than the diametrical size of the wire from which the spring member I9 is made.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiments shown and that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A snap fastener socket comprising a socket housing having an annular base with a central tubular upward projection terminating in an open end and surrounding a stud receiving opening, a peripheral wall projecting upwardly from said base, said tubular projection having transverse slots provided therein adjacent said base, a wire spring member fitted within said socket upon said base and confined by said peripheral wall, said spring member having a pair of yieldingly connected arms positioned in said slots and extending across said opening for snap locking engagement with a stud member, and a disc-like imperforate deflector member having a central domed portion, an intermediate conical portion and an outer rim, the domed portion and the rim being joined respectively to the conical portion by reversely curved sections, the inner surface of the domed section of the deflector member resting on the open end of said tubular projection to support said member during the assembly of a fastening member, and the upper portion of said peripheral wall being turned inwardly over the rim of said deflector member to provide a prong receiving chamber between the turned portion and said deflector member.

2. A snap fastener socket as defined in the preceding claim wherein said tubular projection and said domed portion of the deflector plate project in an upward direction farther than said peripheral wall.

3. A snap fastener socket as defined by claim 1 wherein a plurality of projections are struck upwardly from the socket base to support the deflector plate rim in spaced relation to the spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,434,245 Choate Oct. 31, 1922 2,286,438 Reiter June 16, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 615,825 Great Britain Jan. 12, 1949 

